The Warriors are streaking the right way

They’re 24-13 and first in the Pacific Division. They’re also winners of 10 straight games, one short of the franchise’s high of 11 straight. The best news for Warrior fans is how they’re doing it: by beating the bad teams (the teams they should be beating) and playing clutch defense. The Warriors are clicking on any and all cylinders.

The streak did not come against all terrible teams. Victories over Miami Heat, Los Angeles Clippers, and a solid Phoenix Suns team mean that the Warriors are doing it in a variety of ways. Of the 10 games, only four teams scored over 100 points and half of the 10 did not reach 90 points. It’s an impressive statistic given how the Warriors were doing in the beginning of the season, and especially when Andre Iguodala went down with injury. But, since his reinsertion into the lineup, the biggest weakness of the Warriors, defense, is being addressed with better rotations from everyone.

Finally, the effort and help defense is there. Their last victory, a 101-80 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, was a microcosm of the entire streak. After the Bucks cut the game close at halftime, 50-48, the Warriors went on a 27-9 run to put the game out of reach before the Bucks had a chance to regroup. After the first quarter, the Bucks only shot 30.4 percent (17-56) and were promptly shut out.

While the last 10 games were great, these Warriors are showing up as true playoff contenders. In addition to their three-pointer mentality and streaky offensive ways, the inclusion of defensive stops and clutch play should be put on the scouting report. This is a team that needs to be looked at because of the home court advantage and resistance that exists in both the coach and the young core leaders, Stephen Curry and David Lee.

Timothy Lee

Timothy Lee is a sports and video game journalist born and raised in Southern California. He is great at finding the important detail in the mundane and ordinary. He has published articles for Riot Games, IGN.com, 1UP.com, Rotowire.com, and SBNation.